Aquatic Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in NRG Energy, Inc. $NRG

Key Points

• Aquatic Capital Management LLC cut its stake in NRG Energy by 48.0% in Q3, selling 55,017 shares and leaving the firm with 59,554 shares worth about $9.65 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently — CFO Bruce Chung and VP Brian Curci sold large blocks in January, and insiders sold a total of 172,556 shares worth roughly $27.55 million over the last 90 days.
• NRG missed EPS expectations ($1.04 vs. $1.19) while its revenue beat at $7.75 billion, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.475 (annualized $1.90, ~1.2% yield).

Aquatic Capital Management LLC cut its stake in NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG - Free Report) by 48.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,554 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 55,017 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in NRG Energy were worth $9,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in NRG Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in shares of NRG Energy by 90.4% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 179 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NRG Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. BOKF NA boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 3,714.3% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 267 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NRG Energy by 1,970.6% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 352 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NRG Energy

In related news, CFO Bruce Chung sold 12,383 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.56, for a total transaction of $1,938,682.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,147 shares in the company, valued at $12,391,254.32. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian Curci sold 46,976 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.84, for a total transaction of $7,461,667.84. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 46,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,324,588.92. The trade was a 50.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 172,556 shares of company stock valued at $27,550,446. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NRG Energy Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE NRG opened at $152.75 on Monday. NRG Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.57 and a 12-month high of $189.96. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $159.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.77 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.92.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. NRG Energy had a return on equity of 109.48% and a net margin of 2.81%.The company's revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that NRG Energy, Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. This is a boost from NRG Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. NRG Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on NRG. UBS Group assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NRG Energy from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore assumed coverage on NRG Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $153.00 target price on shares of NRG Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NRG Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $196.33.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy NYSE: NRG is a U.S.-based integrated power company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of power generation assets and participates in wholesale and retail energy markets. NRG supplies electricity to utilities, commercial and industrial customers, and retail consumers, while also providing energy-related products and services designed to manage consumption and support reliability.

NRG's generation mix includes conventional thermal plants as well as renewable and distributed energy resources.

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